• mongrel •
Pronunciation: mahng-grêl • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun, adjective
Meaning: 1. Cur, mutt, dog of mixed or unknown breed. 2. (Derogatory) A person of mixed race or descent, a half-breed. 3. Anything of mixed constituents or varieties.
Notes: 
The default sense of today's word refers to dogs: "Eva Brick's mongrel got along well with all the pure bred dogs in the neighborhood." It may be used as an adjective referring to anything of mixed constituents: "The prairie schooners that carried our ancestors westward were pulled by mongrel teams of horses, mules and oxen."
In Play: The default sense of today's word refers to dogs: "Eva Brick's mongrel got along well with all the pure bred dogs in the neighborhood." It may be used as an adjective referring to anything of mixed constituents: "The prairie schooners that carried American pioneers westward were pulled by mongrel teams of horses, mules and oxen."
Word History: Today's Good Word in Old English was gemong "mingle", also the source of among and akin to mingle. It descended from Old Germanic mangjan "knead together", a nasalized form of PIE mag- "to press, knead", source also of Greek magis "kneading-trough, kneaded mass". We find evidence of it in German machen "to make", English make, Italian madia "kneading board", French maie "kneading trough", Russian mazat' "to smear" and maslo "oil, butter", Serbian mazati "to smear", and Polish masło "butter". (Now a bow to Anna Jung for spotting the depth of today's everyday Good Word and sharing it with us.)
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